Design Method
SIGNIFY, Guildford Surrey
Philips are a long standing customer of Pelling Design as you can see Signify launch graphic design, Philips Sonicare re-brand and re-positioning and Volcano to Philips rebrand and we are very proud of our very string working relationship.
Philips rely on us to bring our A game to every project no matter how big or small. We are generally working on at least 2/3 design projects of varying sizes at any one time for them.
Its testament to our skill set as a full service agency that we have been working with them for well over a decade now!
One of the most fun parts – for me at least – is there yearly catalogue projects. This means tables – lots of tables and lots of typography!!!
The sheer raft of products Philips lighting offers means there are of course multiple versions needed.
Setting type styles and paying attention to the finite details of any font is becoming a bit of a lost art in the days of super intuitive software platforms so I turn every automated response off and go old school!
It allows more flexibility and lifts the (often self-imposed) rules dictated by automated actions. There is not much more satisfying for a designer than a beautiful, well layed out, wonderfully constructed double page spread!!!
Making inanimate, sometimes dull looking products interesting is also a challenge in itself – and good typography plays a part here too – elevating a mundane page with simple touches to bring it to life and show off the product to its maximum whilst communicating the most important features and benefits.
To make the project run as smoothly as possible, we first import all product information into an Excel spreadsheet. This allows us to make sure the product managers gather all requited data and maintain a consistent level of information.
Next step is to create a page plan, working on the premise there are ‘X’ amount of products per page – this allows us to plan out the catalogue in its entirety before its designed. It is the equivalent of a website wireframe I guess, and super useful part of the design process to go through.
Once this is signed off, we can them start laying out the pages and bringing all that typography to the table!
These catalogues may looks a little dull to the people not involved but they are a traditional and very relevant sales tool for the sales team, and one they cannot go without. Philips customers often refer to them as ‘bibles of light’ – and who doesn’t want to be involved in a design project like that!